Spots to AVOID on Your Next Disney Vacation

Walt Disney World is the most magical place on earth, but, indeed, some areas are best avoided if you want to escape the crush of the crowds.  Those spots can feel a little less magical because crowds tend to gather and bottleneck there.  While there’s no need to avoid them altogether, it helps to know where they are, so you can plan accordingly. 

When possible, choosing a different restroom stop or staggering your meal times can make for a more pleasant experience.  Here’s a list of 10 spots that are notoriously hectic and crowded at Walt Disney World.  

 Rapunzel Restroom Area

In the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland, there’s a walkway that heads toward Liberty Square, and this spot is notoriously jammed with people at all times.  A few things are happening in this area that combines to create a huge bottleneck.  First, both “Peter Pan’s Flight” and “it’s a small world” have queues that open into this area.  In addition, there is a large restroom and stroller parking in this spot, which means that many Guests are trying to pass through the area and shuffling in and out with strollers and children.  This particular restroom area is beautiful, so you also have folks stopping in the pathway to take pictures.   It’s an area you should stop and see, but there are much fewer hectic bathrooms to visit if efficiency is your preference.

 Adventureland Restroom Area

Speaking of restrooms, the other Magic Kingdom restroom area that seems to be a constant crowd magnet is the Adventureland restrooms directly across from the Swiss Family Treehouse.  Part of what makes this area so congested is the fact that the restrooms are located in a breezeway that cuts through from Adventureland to Frontierland.  In addition to the restroom traffic, many people use it to cut from one land to another.  Adventureland pathways in this area are tight, to begin with, so people who are stepping to the side to check a map or look at their phones are stepping into the restroom area as well.    

Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe at peak lunchtime

We enjoy Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, especially when their toppings bar is open, but we try to avoid eating there at peak meal times.  The dining area is large but usually very crowded.  It’s sometimes difficult to find a table and balance your food tray, so we prefer finding a table outside in the shade and then placing a mobile order from our seats.

Frontierland, by Splash Mountain

Despite being seasoned Disney visitors, we always seem to fail miserably at finding the end of the Splash Mountain queue.  No matter when you visit, the line seems to be quite long, and currently, the queue extends into Frontierland.  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is also directly next to Splash Mountain, and there’s a great snack cart in between them.   At times, it’s hard to tell who is approaching the Big Thunder Line, who is looking for the end of the Splash queue, and who’s in line for almonds and popcorn.  We can’t entirely condone avoiding the area because Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad are two amazing attractions.  But I definitely do not recommend getting caught up in this area in the scorching mid-day sun!

Monorail Platforms at Park Closing

The backup at transportation is always quite long at the end of the night.  Waiting is inevitable, but one area we particularly try to avoid is the monorail platform at the end of a Magic Kingdom or EPCOT day. If you’re staying until a Park closes, consider making your way to the exits as slowly as possible.  Seriously, move like Flash (the sloth from Zootopia- not “The Flash”) and slow down your exit.      

Pandora (during peak times)

No trip to Animal Kingdom is complete without a visit to its newest and most detailed land: Pandora- the World of Avatar.  The land is so exquisitely detailed that it’s begging for you to stroll through and take it all in; unfortunately, doing so can be quite difficult when it is hectic.  Especially now, while queues are longer due to people’s awareness of physical distancing, the lines for the attractions in Pandora extend well beyond the queue spaces.  This makes crisscrossing the land tricky.  Don’t skip it entirely, even if you aren’t interested in the rides, but consider checking it out later in the day.  Pandora looks even more magical at night!

World Showcase on a weekend evening

This one might be a bit controversial, but we find the World Showcase to be unbearable at times on Friday and Saturday evenings.  On the one hand, enjoying an EPCOT festival and sampling all the food and drink there is to offer can be a lot of fun; on the other hand, it can be so crowded that it takes away some of the enjoyment of the experience.  Standing in a long line to get a small bite to eat and then using a trash can as a table is not everyone’s idea of fine dining.  

EPCOT’s Mexico Pavilion

The Mexico Pavilion in the World Showcase seems to be crowded no matter when you visit.  While we couldn’t suggest skipping it, it’s definitely an area that we try to get through quickly unless we are specifically doing something in that area. Choza de Margarita (a lovely little margarita stand) draws quite a crowd. The entrance to La Cantina de San Angel  (a waterside quick-service location) is direct across its walkway.  People often stop in this area to take temple and margarita selfies, which adds to the busy vibe.  

Mid-Day in Toy Story Land

Toy Story Land is incredibly fun and well-themed, but the area between Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Midway Mania is always bustling.  The Slinky Dog queue usually wraps down the right side, and families are parking strollers on the left.  In pre-pandemic times, a character meet on the left also builds up a lengthy queue.  Woody’s Lunch Box, a popular quick service location, is also situated right on this pathway.  Seating there is often hard to find, so it adds to the overall busyness of this area.  The lack of shade in the land certainly doesn’t help!   

Where do you feel the crush of the crowds most at Walt Disney World?  We’d love to hear if you have spots you try to avoid when you visit!